Wnt Mny?

Ever wondered what some car number plates say? Have you sat in your car confused about the jumble of vowel-less words on the number plate of the car in front of you?

Rest assured that these number plates do some good, because their sale funds the Road Safety Trust.

The Road Safety Trust provides money for community groups, schools and private sector organisations to undertake road safety projects. Trust chairperson Suzanne Sinclair says that applications are now open for proposals for projects, and they close on 2 July 2004.

“Just as understanding some number plates requires a bit of creativity and lateral thinking, so does our approach to road safety. We really want to encourage these innovative ideas. Our role is to give money to the ideas that will improve safety on New Zealand’s roads,” says Ms Sinclair. “We are very keen to support small community projects as well as large nationally focused ones. Even some of the very small projects we have provided money for over the years have made a difference to the safety of different communities around New Zealand.”

Some examples of projects funded in previous years include the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society’s purchase of replacement child restraints, a number of school walking bus projects, and road safety information for the Auckland Migrant Centre.

Ms Sinclair says that around 16 percent of the available money last year went to research-based projects, like investigations into the performance of road markers, the visibility of roadside barriers and kerbs and the influence of fatigue on truck crashes.

A number of projects funded by the Road Safety Trust are marae-based.

“I really want to encourage applications for community safety initiatives, training, education, research and private sector technology developments beneficial to road safety. You may be surprised what a difference your idea could make to the safety of New Zealanders.”

So if you WNT MNY for a road safety project you can get information on the fund, application forms and guidelines on http://www.roadsafety.govt.nz, or phone 04 931 8791.

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